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Count the Cost

“Every single believer that we know has suffered persecution. They have been rejected by their family; they’re no longer welcome.”

“A lot of people say the whole point of the first term [as an international worker] is to learn the language, survive, and be willing to go for a second term. I feel like we’re in that boat,” says Caleb*, an Alliance international worker.

Caleb; his wife, Teresa*; and their four children (ages 7–13) experienced both exciting and difficult times the past four years in a creative-access country in the North and Central Asia Region. They had things to work through as a family and had to learn how to do ministry together. Through it all, God moved His good news forward.

“God is faithful that way,” Teresa says. “He doesn’t just leave His children out there to fend for themselves and to fail. We’ve seen the power and we’ve seen the grace, so we’re really grateful.”

Can You Pray with Me?

After Caleb and Teresa finished language study, they began partnering with SIL to conduct literacy workshops for children, youth, and adults from non-majority language groups. Their family visited villages for two to three days at a time to conduct the classes. “The evenings were when we especially felt like we could talk about spiritual things. Our kids played with their kids,” Teresa says.

One night in a village, their host had hurt his back, so Caleb and Teresa prayed with him, and his back was healed. Later that evening, Zach*, a SIL translator, came to Caleb and said, “Can you pray with me? Every night when I go to bed, I see demons, and they torment me. I can never sleep peacefully through the night.”

Caleb prayed, and the next morning Zach didn’t say anything, yet he seemed happy. A week later, he said to Caleb, “I want to thank God and then I want to thank you because I’ve slept more peacefully this past week than I have my entire life. I haven’t seen one demon. I haven’t been bothered. I’ve been able to sleep through the night.”

Come to Me

Over the next several months, Zach had two dreams where Jesus appeared to him. He said, “Come to Me” and extended His hand to Zach. “During this time as well,” Caleb explains, “we started doing Bible stories with him, and he was listening to some audio recordings. Finally, one day he said, ‘I want to trust Jesus for salvation; I believe He can save me.’”

Later, Zach’s wife and another translator made the same profession. Then Zach’s nephew became a believer because he also was healed in Jesus’ name.

“As of right now, there are four believers in this people group. They’re the only ones we know of who have given their lives to Christ,” Teresa says.

Four new believers during a four-year term as international workers is an exciting accomplishment. Keep in mind, in this country “it’s very difficult for somebody to say, ‘I’m going to change my religion,’” Caleb says.

“Every single believer that we know has suffered persecution. They have been rejected by their family; they’re no longer welcome,” Teresa says. “So when they make the decision to become a believer, they really have to count the cost.”

Pray

Pray for these new believers that they will remain strong in their commitment to Christ and that others also will courageously choose to follow Jesus.